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Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Merry Christmas! It is Wednesday and that means that even though it is Christmas Day, it is time for a new challenge at Little Red Wagon. Rosanne has issued the challenge this week and she wants to see anything Christmas!

I decided to create a decorated jar that would hold some dog biscuits that I made for our son's puppy, Sadie. I found this really amazing jar that is about a 2 litre size and happened to have a red lid!

I used a 4 x 6 Merry Christmas card from Echo Park's 'Tis the Season line and backed it with a bit of red cardstock. Then I added a paper snowflake and red button.

A pretty bit of ribbon on the lid made a nice finishing touch!

The dog biscuits were easy to make and are made with ingredients that most of us already have in our cupboard. If you have a special dog that you would like to make them for, here is the recipe.

Homemade Dog Biscuits

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix together all of the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Place the dough onto a piece of wax paper and then cover with another sheet on top. Roll the dough out so that it is about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Remove the top layer of wax paper and use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes. Use a spatula to help remove your shapes to a cookie sheet for baking. Continue reforming and rolling the dough until it is all used. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool.

I am sure that you have created some awesome Christmas projects this year, so if you would like to link them up at Little Red Wagon we would love to see what you made!

Have the best Christmas ever and a New Year filled with many good things.

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Regan has issued a really fun challenge at Little Red Wagon this week! She wants to see a Christmas card in non-traditional colors, i.e., no red or green.

I decided to work with this sweet little image from Whimsie Doodles called Hiding Elfie. She is holding a special gift behind her back and waiting to see if you have been naughty or nice before she gives it to you!

I did some paper piecing and coloring with my Copic markers in shades of taupe and teal. It was hard to stay away from red and green for this one, but I did it!

I also added some glitter to her hat, stockings and shoes and I used a snowflake border punch along the edge of the card.

Now we want to see what you can create in non-traditional colors for Christmas! Just link up your project at Little Red Wagon. See you there :)

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Welcome to our December Inspiration Elevator challenge. Each month our group is challenged to take our scrapbooking to the next level, to stretch our creative process and to grow as artists by embracing challenges that make us think, work and grow. Be sure to check out our Inspiration Elevator Blog to see all of our previous challenges.

We are thrilled to welcome guest artist Christy Riopel to Inspiration Elevator this month. You may recognize her work as she is a regular contributor/writer for Canadian Scrapbooker magazine.

December's challenge for us and for you comes from the uber prolific Laurel Seabrook. Here's the challenge she posed:

"My challenge for December. I love Christmas, everything about it. Decorating my house, making gifts, baking - I love it all. My challenge to you is what is Christmas to you? What is one thing that evokes special memories and truly brings out the Christmas spirit for you. It could be a decoration, photo, song, recipe. Perhaps it is a tradition that you did as a child and now your children do. Maybe it is in the 'special' dinnerware that comes out only at Christmas. Scrap it and tell us all about it. Now for those who don't celebrate Christmas, let's hear about a tradition that makes your celebration special."

There are so many different traditions that are a part of Christmas for me - baking cookies, our special hand-made Christmas stockings, our nativity set, special recipes used for Christmas dinner, going to Mass on Christmas Eve. But one of my favourite traditions is giving our two sons a nutcracker each Christmas! We love bringing them out each year and setting them up as part of our decorations. The
nutcracker brigade stands tall and proud and they add such a festive
feel to our home! I snapped a photo of them recently and this was the
focus of my layout.

I worked with a Jillibean Soup circle placemat for my background. It started as a 12 x 12 sheet of circles that I cut down to resemble a tree shape.

I then used Bazzill Basics Countdown to Christmas papers to fill in the circles! I love the punch of black that is in this line of papers and the prints are just gorgeous! I hand-cut some of the stars from the paper to use as embellishments on my page.

A few sequins were added for some holiday sparkle and I did some stitching with my sewing machine.

A Heidi Swapp epoxy sticker was used for my title and I kept the journaling simple.

This was a great challenge and helped me to appreciate some of the things that makes Christmas special in our home. Thanks Laurel!

Would you like to see what the rest of our designers, and our guest designer, created with this challenge? Of course you would, so here are the links to each one's blog:

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Welcome to another fun challenge at Little Red Wagon. This week Tammy wants to see a birthday card! (Note: It wasn't until after I made this card and posted it that I realized it was supposed to be a Holiday-Birthday card. Oops! It is a plain, old birthday card - so hopefully Tammy will be OK with that!)

I saw an idea similar to this on Pinterest and I thought I would give it a try.

I used a small envelope that I have been hoarding for a while! It is small and polka dotted and Kraft and just way too adorable and it was really hard to use it because now I don't have it to look forward to using anymore! {{sigh}}

Anyway... a simple sentiment, a few punched hearts and some sweet ribbon and there is my birthday card!

I know it is hard to think of birthdays with Christmas all around us, but why not give it a try! Besides, it was Tammy's birthday yesterday, so this is a great excuse to wish her a belated happy birthday!

You can see what the other Girlfriends created by visiting Little Red Wagon and then link up your own project. We would love to see what you create :)

Our Blog Hop is all about the Songs of Christmas and the inspiration for my project comes from the song Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer!

We recently looked after our son's dog, Sadie, and while she was over I did a little Christmas photo shoot with her. I bought her a new Christmas collar and some antlers and she was very cooperative while I took the photos. I couldn't wait to put the pictures on a layout and entitle it 'Sadie the Reindog'!

Isn't she a sweetie! She is an Airedale terrier and still a puppy - a very large puppy, I might add! lol

I used paper and stickers from the Bazzill Nordic Pines paper line! This paper is to die for - gorgeous, rich red combined with Kraft and black! {sigh} The black snowflake paper is from Simple Stories and worked beautifully with the Nordic Pines papers. It made the perfect background for my layout.

I also used some Jillibean Corrugated Alphas for my title along with Alpha Stickers from Echo Park. Paper snowflakes from Bazzill Basics were added to compliment the background paper and gave a nice balance to my page.

I hope my layout inspires you to try doing a Christmas layout with this beautiful paper line! In fact, it is not even a Christmas line! It is a Winter line that I thought worked really well with my photos. You might also try combining a coloured photo with a black and white one. It adds lots of interest to your design.

Now remember, in order to be entered to win the special prize all you have to do is hop from Blog to Blog and leave a comment on each as you go. Then simply check back at the Two Scrapbook Friends blog on December 10th to see if you are the lucky winner!

Monday, December 2, 2013

With the Christmas season starting, the Designers and friends at Two Scrapbook Friends will be participating in a Songs of Christmas Blog Hop starting this Friday, December 6th, at 11:00am!

Be inspired by twelve amazing Christmas projects that are based on some of your favourite Christmas Carols. If you hop from blog to blog, leaving a comment on each, you will qualify to be in a draw for a special prize from Two Scrapbook Friends!

The Hop will remain open from December 6th to December 9th at 11:59 pm (EST). You can join in at any time. The winner will be announced on December 10th on the Two Scrapbook Friends' Blog.

Watch their blog on Friday, December 6th, so you will know where to begin! See you then :)

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

I am doing double duty this month with back to back challenges over at Little Red Wagon. This week my challenge is off-the-edge! Literally!

What I want to see is an element or embellishment on a card that extends beyond the base of the card.

This is what I created as inspiration.

I started with an adorable Mo Manning image that I paper-pieced as well as colored with my Copics. I always forget how much fun paper-piecing is and I really enjoyed adding all the bright green dotted paper to this sweet little pixie! Isn't she just adorable?

I also added some glitter to the fur on her outfit so she would be all sparkly for the holidays!

I then decided to add two 'off-the-edge' elements - the paper strip and the star. I also thought the green star was the perfect spot for my sentiment - a Heidi Swapp epoxy sticker.

I REALLY hope you will join in on the challenge this week at Little Red Wagon! It gets lonely over there sometimes and I really would like to see what you do with this challenge! So head on over and show us what you create :)

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Hello and happy Wednesday to everyone! It is my turn to post the challenge over at Little Red Wagon this week and I want to see an accordion fold on your project.

This is a card that I created for inspiration...

I saw a three-dimensional paper-crafted baby buggy on the internet and I made up my own version to use as a card front. It is a pretty simple design, but the accordion fold buggy top is really just too adorable!

I would love if you joined in the challenge this week! Just pop on over to Little Red Wagon and link up your creation. I will see you there :)

Friday, November 15, 2013

Welcome to our November Inspiration Elevator challenge. Each month our group is challenged to take our scrapbooking to the next level, to stretch our creative process and to grow as artists by embracing challenges that make us think, work and grow. Be sure to check out our Inspiration Elevator Blog to see all of our previous challenges.

We are thrilled to welcome guest artist Misty Russell and her eclectic, artistic style to Inspiration Elevator this month.

It was my turn to post the challenge this month and this is what I wrote:

"November's Challenge: Back in Time. I love looking through old photos (or not so old photos!) and remembering the great memories that go along with them. Some pictures evoke a strong emotional response while others just bring a sweet smile to our face as we recall the details of when it was taken. With that in mind, I would like each of you to pick a favourite photo and go back in time! I want you to take your photo and actually revisit the place where the photo was taken. Then take a 'picture of the picture' in it's original setting and scrapbook your new photo. **If you are absolutely not able to revisit the place where the photo was first taken, then pick a favorite picture with lots of memories attached to it and scrapbook that.

In either case, I want you to journal the story behind your photo. Make your journaling and photo come together in such a way that we feel like we are back in time with you!"

I have always been intrigued by the idea of taking of 'picture of a picture' and that is why I decided to make it my challenge this month! A few days after my Mom passed away this past May, we were at her house and I found a photo of Mom in her back yard. My son and I then went out into her yard and took a photo of the picture in it's original setting. As we did that, I knew that for me Mom would always be associated with her yard and gardens as that was her place of peace and joy. She loved taking care of her gardens and would spend many hours working in them or just sitting on her garden swing enjoying the view.

Here is the layout I created using the photo that I took.

I started my layout using one of the Color Wash papers from Pink Paislee. I felt that the watercolor look would compliment my photo and the pre-cut triangles would be fun to work with!

I used a couple of chipboard words from the same collection to create my title. This is the first time I actually machine stitched over chipboard! I didn't know if it would work or not with my old machine, but it did and I love how it looks!

Butterflies just naturally work with a garden theme, so I punched a few of them out and added them to my page.

The journaling is an important part of this month's challenge, so I decided to give it a main spot on my layout. I also hand-wrote my journaling onto the background, something I have only done once or twice! I am trying to get over my fear of using my own handwriting on my pages!

I decided to continue using the triangle pattern by creating a triangle banner and placing it under the photo.

Additional papers from this same collection were used to fill in behind the pre-cut triangles in the background. I then used my sewing machine to add stitching in a few places on my page. I left a few of the threads longer to create some visual interest and to give additional texture to the page.

Finally, a pretty doily, a little love and a small butterfly were added to balance out the other elements on my page.

I hope you will stop by and see what the rest of the incredible Inspiration Elevator designers have created:

I would love if you decided to play along with our challenge this month! Take up my photo challenge and create a layout using your picture. Then share it using the linky tool on our Inspiration Elevator Blog and/or our Inspiration Elevator Facebook Page. I will be waiting to see your creation :)

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Christmas is right around the corner and Rosanne has challenged us to make a Christmas tag this week at Little Red Wagon.

Here is my little tag using sweet pink and green colors.

It is kind of fun creating something with leftovers! I had a pile of scraps on my desk, leftover from some cards I created, and I just got creative. I even used a file-folder tab for the top of my tag :)

Why not dig into your wagon this week and see what you can come up with! Join in the fun at Little Red Wagon and show us your Christmas tag. We always love seeing what you create.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Tomorrow night we will be greeting all the neighborhood ghosts and goblins as they make their way door to door looking for treats! Regan's challenge this week at Little Red Wagon is timely as she wants us to create something with a Halloween theme.

I decided to make up a card using traditional Halloween colors!

The bat was cut using my Silhouette and I embossed my card background using a Cuttlebug folder.

I hope you decide to celebrate Halloween with us by creating something fun! Be sure to link up your design at Little Red Wagon - we love seeing what you make :)

Life is good and each new day holds many blessings if we but know how to recognize them! My blog is a place where I can share some of the blessings in my life including my love of family, paper crafting, travel, cooking and reading. Thanks for stopping by!